About Emily

Emily McDonald is the owner of Not So Idle Hands and lives in Colorado with her hot hubby and 3 cute daughters. When she's not battling ADHD, Fibro, or Migraines she loves to be downstairs playing with all her pretty crafty things making fun stuff. She also runs an awesome Etsy Shop by the same name where she gets to sell shiny supplies to make pretty stuff {check it out!}.

My kiddos have been wanting to flex their sewing muscles more and more, so I'm always trying to think up little projects that are cute and useful. And we decided to match the thread to the ribbon, so it shows up against the felt.
Today we made these little felt envelope wallets and they turned out perfect! I like felt for kids' projects since you can just slap some together and sew it up … [Read more...]

April Fool's Day is very soon and as our kiddos are getting older, they are itching to try their hand at pranks each April 1st. I have to admit, though, so far I've been the reining champion of silly stuff around our house, but each year they get smarter and it's harder to trick these kids of ours.
This year, I've thought up some new jokes that I can hopefully pull over on them....but if not, … [Read more...]

We are enjoying a whole lotta sunshine and warm weather lately and making us thing about fun Spring and Easter things to create. Here are some of the ones we put on our list:
Sparkling Glitter Easter Eggs from Girl Inspired
Yummy Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Bunnies at Tablespoon
Cute Easter Peeps Pops by Love From the Oven {you can get straws to make these in our Etsy … [Read more...]

Since the weather has warmed and St. Patty's Day is next week, we wanted to make more fun things to wear for Spring. I also wanted to show you a cool hack to use when painting beads....it's life~changing. Seriously!
You'll Need:
Wooden Beads {I carry these in my Etsy shop}
Paint~ I used the "pearl" finish from Martha Stewart
Paintbrush~ duh
Plastic Straws
Rice in a container … [Read more...]

Do you have some old t~shirts hanging around screaming for a new purpose? Use them to make some adorable new bracelets and if you make them in green they can even help keep you from being pinched this St. Patty's Day!
Start by cutting your knit t~shirts into 1 inch strips. If you don't have any old t~shirts to cut up, you can run over to your local fabric store and buy a bit {you can buy … [Read more...]

Hi All! Come check me out at Somewhat Simple today and see how to make this awesomely easy Family Message Center. You know you want to....
Have fun!
Don't forget to grab some goodies at our Etsy Shop! … [Read more...]

We really love St. Patrick's Day around here and always try to do something fun to celebrate. But honestly, I use these holidays to make cute yummy treats that make me drool and even though we won't get around to all these cute yummies this year, we definitely need to add them to our list!
Lucky Charms French Toast {Yep! You heard right} by Tastes of Lizzy T's
Homemade Rainbow … [Read more...]

Today I wanted to show how to make this cute book or scripture tote for your kiddos. I actually made this one awhile ago for my oldest daughter to replace hers that was falling apart and she begged me to make her one this time {I don't know why, my sewing skills aren't super}.
So, after she gave me the puppy look, I gave in. But, it turned out looking fairly decent, so I decided to share after … [Read more...]